Adjustable four-way view framing device for view finders



Jan. Z6, 1937. N. G. PETERsx-:N 2,063,399Y

ADJUSTABLE FOUR-WAY VIEW FRAMING DEVICE FOR VIEW FINDERS l Filed Dec. 7,1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 77 o Oo Z NDERS Jan. 26, 1937. N. G. PETERsEN -WAYVIEW FRAMING DEVICE FOR VIEW FI ADJUSTAELE FOUR (lll/lill] s I FiledDec. 7, 1955 y men/021 ...Lun N Niels' lelerserz.

Patented Jan. 26, 1937 Y.2,068,699

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE ADJUSTABLE FOUR-WAY VIEW FBAlVlING DEVICEFOR VIEW FINDERS Niels G. Petersen, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor toMitchell Camera Corporation, West Hollywood, Calif., a corporation ofDelaware Application December 7, 1935, Serial No. 53,357

1i claims. (ci. iis- 1.5)

This invention relates generally to focusing or Slide in verticalguideways on the inner surface' ,view finding instruments having'adjustable mat on one side Wall of the instrument, and are moved"juting orkview-area framing devices as used in moin opposite directionsby means of a pinion means ftion'gpicture cameras. It may be mentionedthat and single manual/knob. The other two frame 5 camera'lcnses ofdifferent focal lengths cause difmembers extend in vertical directionsand are 5 ferent extents of the field before the camera to horizontallymovable, being mounted on a pair occupy the image area on the film. Itis desirof racks movable in a horizontal direction in able that theperson looking within the view guideways on one horizontal wall of thecasing finder be able to ascertain just how much oi andoperated byapinion means and single manual the image visible on its ground glasswill be photoknob. The-arrangement is such that the frame 10 graphed onthe film in the camera,'and it has members of either pair may be movedtoward and therefore been the practice to provide the View from oneanother by operation of the correspondfnder with adjustable mattingdevices which may ing knob, so that adjustment of the view area beadjusted to correspond'with any camera lens dened by the members is mosteasily accomthen in use, so as to frame just that portion of plished. l5the field visible on the View nder ground glass The invention will bebetter understood from that will be photographed on the lm. Thus, it thefollowing detailed description of a present becomes necessary to changethe adjustment of preferred embodiment thereof, reference for this thismatting device each time a lens change is purpose being had to theaccompanying drawmade in the camera. ings, in which: 20 View finders formotion picture cameras have Fig. 1 is a plan view of a view finderincorporatbeen equipped in the past with four-way ading the improvementsof the present invention; justable mats which, for instance, are slippedinto Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken as indicated position 'throughslots in the side walls of the by line 2--2 of Fig. 1; view nder casing,or else are formed of exible Fig. 3 iS a Vertical tranverse .SeCtOIltaken aS 25 material and are flexed and turned at right angles indicatedby line 3-3 0f Fig. 2; and guided along the inner surfaces of the sideFig. 4 is a fragmentary View looking downivalls of the instrument casinginstead of pro- Wardly 0n 2 portion 0f the device ShOWn in Fig. 2,jecting out through the casing walls. The matthe upper Wall I3 of thender casing being reting device last described is an improvement overmoved; and

30 the arrangement rst mentioned, in that pro- Fig. 5 iS 9 detailSeCtOll taken aS indicated by jection of the mats outside the view ndercasing line 5-5 0f Fig. 3- is avoided, but is somewhat undesirable inthat In the drawings the view `iinderv is designated it leads tocomplications and expense in the progenerally at Ill, and is shown tocomprise a casing vision of suitable operating and adjusting means.forming a light conduit and made up of vertical 35 It is an object ofthe present invention to proside walls II and I2 and top and bottomwalls vide an adjustable four-way mat device for in- I3 and I4,respectively, the casing being recstruments such as View finders,wherein the mat tangular in cross section (see Fig. 3) The foror viewarea dening members are `contained en- Ward end of the finder body iscomprised of a tirely within the instrument casing, and which ismounting casting I5, provided with an attach- 40 extremely simple andinexpensive in construction, ment device I6 through which the nder ismountas well as easy to operate. Y ed on the camera, said casting I5carrying the It is afurther object of the invention to profinderobjective combination I1. The upper and vide improved and simplifiedmeans for operating lower walls of casting I5 and the finder body arethe mat orview area dening elements. parallel, while the 'side wallsdiverge rearwardly 45 The device of the present invention departs fromthe objective combination to a point I8 from the practice of providingmetal slides which vsomewhat to the rear of the center of the findermove inwardly through the casing wall of the body, and then extendparallel to each other to instrument, and substitutes a set of fourrelatively the rear end of the nder (see Fig. 1). The walls 0 narrowadjustable frame members, which are ad- II, I2, I3 and I4 ofthe ndercasing t over a 50 justably movable across the light conduit so asreduced extension I9 of mounting casting I5 so `to frame View areas ofvarious dimensions. Two as to be flush with the outer surface thereof,and of the frame members extend in horizontal direcare fastened to saidcasting as by screws 2U. tions and are vertically movable, being mountedMountedto the rear of the objective combinaat their ends on verticallymoving racks which tion and in the divergent section of the casing,

and located properly with respect to the focal plane of the objectivecombination, is a glass 24, having a suitable image receiving surface 25on its forward face, surface 25 being at the focal plane oi theobjective. This image receiving surface 25 may, for instance, be agroundglass surface. The glass 24, which is rectangular in configuration, ispreferably a plano-convex lens, its forward plane surface being groundas mentioned, and its rearward surface being slightly convex so that thelens acts as a light collector. To the rear of lens 24 may be anothercollecting lens 21, as shown in Fig. 2.

Lens 24 is mounted in a frame comprising a horizontal lower member 30,fastened to the casing as by screws 3|, and having a groove 32 receivingthe lower edge of the lens, a vertical side member 33 similarly fastenedto vertical casing wall I2 and provided with a groove 34 receiving thecorresponding vertical edge of the lens, and a support 35 mounted onopposite side wall and provided with a groove 35 adapted to receive theI3 of the casing, and located midway between its` side edges so as toengage lens 24 substantially opposite its optical centerl A pair ofrelatively narrow, parallel, horizonrelatively narrow, parallel,vertically extending frame or view area defining members 42 and 43.These framing members 4|), 4|, 42 and 43 are located immediatelyforwardly of the ground glass surface 25 of lens 24, and form a framefor the image cast on surface 25. Members and 4| are vertically movabletoward and from one another, and members 42 and 43 are horizontallymovable toward and from one another, for the purpose of adjusting therectangular view area dened by said members.

The supporting and operating means for horizontally-extending framingmembers 48 and 4| will now bedescribed. Members 48 and 4| cxtendhorizontally and at right angles, as seen in plan, from arms 48 and 41,respectively, which extend from members 40 and 4| rearwardly within thecasing along its side wall and are mounted at their rearward ends onparallel, vertically movable racks 49 and 49, respectively. 'I'hese arms48 and 41 are formed opposite lens 24 with portions 45a and 41a,respectively, which are adapted to slide adjacent the inner surface ofwall II above and below lens support 35, while to the rear of saidportions 46a and 41a the arms are otl'set inwardly, as at 45h and 4-1b,and thence extend rearwardly to racks 48 and 49, on the outer surfacesof which they are tightly mounted, as mentioned above.

The rack teeth 48a and 49a of racks 48 and 49, respectively, face towardone another, but are ofl'set horizontally, so as to mesh with concentricadjacent pinions 58 and 59. It may here be mentioned that these pinions4are relatively rotatable for adjustment purposes, 'but in service arefastened rigidly together, as later to be explained. The two pinionswhen clamped rigidly together therefore constitute simply a singlepinion member located between and meshing with the two racks, andadapted for moving` the racks in opposite directions.

Racks 48 and 49 are vertically guided by guide strips 50 and 5|,respectively, fastened to casing wall as by rivets 52 and 53. Therespective inner surfaces 54 and 55 of racks 48 and 49 slide against theinner surface of wall as shown in Fig. 4. Rack 49 is confined by aprojection Sia of guide strip 5|, and its surface 49h slides againstguide strip surface Sib. Plates mounted on wall above and below thepinions are slidably engaged along vertical edge 6l by rack shoulder B2,located between inner rack surface 55 and rack teeth 49a. The oppositevertical edges of these plates 5D are slidably engaged by the ends ofrack teeth 48a of rack 48 (Fig. 2). Rack 48 is cut with a shoulder at83, which slides against the vertical edge of guidestrip projection 50a,said projection overlying and confining the rearward reduced portion 64of the rack.

The thickness of rack 49 is such that the arm 41 which is mounted on itsouter surface clears the outer surface of pinion 59 (Fig. 4). Guidestrip projection 5|a overlies arm 41 as well as the rack, the rearwardportion of said arm sliding against the inner surface of said projectionas the rack is-moved. The rearward portion of arm 46, on the other hand,lies outside guide member 5D. Rack 48 and guide strip 58 are of lessthickness than rack 49 and guide strip 5|, so as to avoid interferencebetween arm 41 and rack 48 and its arm 46, all as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The operating knob for pinions 58 and 59 will now be described. Pinion59 isV pinned on the inner end of a knob center outwardly through anopening in casing side wall Surrounding shaft is a gear sleeve B6 thathas on its inner end the pinion 58 that meshes with rack 48. shaft 65 iscapable of being rotatably adjusted with reference to gear 58 on gearsleeve 66, but during operation said gears are locked securely together,as later to be described.

Gear sleeve 66 is mounted to rotate in the axial bore 61 of a mountingdisk B8 tightly mounted on the outer surface of casing wall i A ring 1Dv of the thickness 0f disk 68 is relatively rotatable on the peripheryof said disk, and means are provided for fastening ring 1U to the diskafter proper rotatable adjustment thereon. For instance, ring 10 may beprovided with circumferential slots 1| through which pass clampingscrews 12Awhich screwthread into the periphery of disk 68, their headsengaging ring 1U. The purpose of this adjustment will appear later.

Circular plate 15 of the diameter of ring 18 is mounted for rotation onthe outer side of said ring. This plate 15 has a central outwardlyextending boss 16 and an axial bore 11 through which extends the outerend of gear sleeve 91, said plate and gear sleeve being fastened rigidlytogether as by means of pin 18. Plate 15 has bearing against the outerend of a boss 19 on mounting plate 68. Gear sleeve 81 and plate 15 arethus rigid with one another and are supported on disk 68 and rin/g 1n.Knob center shaft 55 has rigidly mounted on its outer end an operatingknob 80, the inner surface of which comes against the outer surface ofplate 15. An adjustment screw 82 mounted on knob 80 extends inwardly andscrewthreads into a bushing 83 mounted in an arcuate slot 84 in circularplate 15 (see Fig. 5). It will be evident that when screw 82 has beenloosened knob 85 may be rotated relatively to plate 15, within thelimits set by the shaft 65 that extendsP Gear 59 on knob center` lengthof slot 84, and by tightening screw 82 knob is securely locked to plate15. It is this adjustment that enables proper setting of the angular.relation between pinion gear 59 which is rigid with the knob and thepinion gear 58 on gear sleeve 61. With adjustments all properly made,and with screw 82 tightened, rotation of knob 80 rotates pinion gears 58and 59 as one, and so operates the two racks 48 and 49 to move inwardlyor outwardly in unison. The knob construction and described adjustmentoperation enables relative adjustment of the upper and lower frame mem'-bers 4U and 4I controlled by pinions' 58 and 58, respectively, for thepurpose of centralizing the opening therebetween. This knob constructionper se is the claimed subject matter of an earlier application of GeorgeA. Mitchell, entitled Operating means for four-way view finder mats,filed October 16, 1933, Ser. No. 693,739, which .application has maturedinto Patent No. 2,058,813, October 27, 1936.

A calibrated scale 85 for the frame members operated by knob 80 isinscribed on the outer periphery of circular plate 15, and an indicatingmark 86 is inscribed on the adjustable ring 10, as clearly shown in Fig.4.

Exactly similar operating means is provided for the vertically disposedframe members 42 and 43. Thus, frame members 42 and 43 are mounted onarms 9| and 92, respectively, which extend over the upper edge of lens24 between lens support- 38 and the side walls of the casing, and aremounted at their inner ends on horizontally movable racks 93 and 94,respectively, said racks being guidedby respective guides 95 and 96, andbeing operated by pinions 91 and 98 rotated in unisorr by an adjustableknob device 99 mounted on upper casing wall i3, all of which may beexactly similar to the previously described operating means forhorizontally extending frame members 40 and 4l Thus manual rotation ofknob 80 causes equal opposed movements of the verticallymovable framemembers 4 and 4l which dene thehorizontal margins of the View areawithin the finder,

while manual rotation of knob 89 caused equal opposed movements of thehorizontally movable frame members l2 and 43 that define the verticalmargins of the view area. The openings between the two pairs of framemembers may be centralized with reference to the optical axis of theinstrument by simple adjustment of the two knobs, and with thisadjustment once made, a View area of any dimensions may be quicklyframed by a simple setting of the two knobs 80 and 99. The entirearrangement is such that the view finder casingneed be but slightlylarger than the largest view area to be framed within the instrument,and the device is characterized by compactness, simplicity ofconstruction, and extreme facility and speed of operation andadjustment.

While I have shown and described certain specic means embodying myinvention, it is to be understood that various changes and modificationsmay be made Without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas expressed in the appended claims.

I claim':

l. In an optical device having a casing defining a light conduit, a pairof relatively narrow view area framing members extending in parallelrelation across the light conduit,.arms on said framing membersextending substantially at right angles to the framing members along theinner surface of one vof the casing walls, a pair of parallel rackssupporting said arms, said racks having oppositely said racks beingmovable along said facing rack teeth on their proximate edges, and saidracks being movable along said casing wall in directions at right anglesto the direction of extension of the framing members, vpinion gear meansbetween and meshing with said racks to move them in unison-in'contrarydirections, and means fo-r operation of said pinion. gear means.

2. In an optical device having a casing dening a light conduit, a pairof relatively narrow view area framing members extending in parallelrelation across the light conduit, arms on said framing membersextending substantially at right angles to the framing members along theinner surface of one` of the casing walls, a pair of parallel rackssupporting said arms, said racks having oppositely facing rack teeth ontheir proximate edges, and casing wall in directions at right angles tothe direction of extension of the framing members; pinion gear meanslbetween and meshing with said racks to move them in unison in contrarydirections, and a single knob for operation of said pinion gear means.

3. In an optical device having a casing defining a light conduit, a pairof relatively narrow view area framing members extending in parallelrelation across the light conduit, a pair of parallel racks, eachsupporting oneof said framing members, said racks having oppositelyfacing rack teeth on their proximate edges, and, said racks beingmovable inside saidcasing wall in directions at right angles to thedirection of extension of the framing members, pinion gear means meshingwith said racks to move them in unison in confor operation of saidlmeans between and meshing with said racks to move them in unison incontrary directions, and

'a single knob for operation of said pinion gear means.

5. In an optical device having a casing of rectangular cross sectiondefining a light conduit in which an image is formed in a focal planetransverse of the casing, a lens in the casing having an image receivingsurface in said focal plane, means supporting said lens in the casingincluding a support on one casing side wall engaging the lens only at apoint midway of the length of the lens edge facing that side wall, apair of relatively narrow view area defining framing members extendingin parallel relation in front of and across the lens in directions atright angles to said one casing side wall, supporting'arms on the endsof said framing members adjacent said casing side wall extendingrearwardly within the casing, one above andione below the lens supporton said one casing wall, a pair of parallel racks supporting the rearends of said arms, said racks movable inside said one casing wall indirections at,v right angles to the direction of extension of theframing members. a pinion gear means between and meshing with said racksto move them in unison in contrary directions, and a rotatable knob on,said casing wall for rotation of said pinion gear means.

6. In an optical device having a casing of rectangular cross sectiondefining a light conduit in which an image is formedv in a focal planetransverse of the casing, a lens in the casing having an image receivingsurface in said.focal plane, means supporting said lens in the casingincluding a support on one casing side wall engaging the lens only at apoint midway of the length of the lens edge facing that side wall, apair of relatively narrow view area defining iraming members extendingin parallel relation in front of and across the lens 1n directions atright angles to said one casing side wall, supporting Y arms on the endsof said framing members adjacent said casing side wall extendingrearwardly within the casing, one above and one below the lens supporton said one casing wall, a pair of parallel racks supporting the rearends of said arms, said racks movable inside said one casing wall indirections at right angles to the direction of extension of the framingmembers, a pinion gear means meshing with said racks to move them inunison in contrary directions, and means for operation oi said piniongear means.

7. In an optical device having a casing of rectangular cross sectiondeiining a light conduit in which an image is formed in a focal planetransverse of the casing, a lens in the casing having an image receivingsurface in said focal plane, a pair of relatively narrow view areadefining in parallel relation in front of and across the lens indirections at porting arms on the ends of parallel relation across thelight conduit, a pair each supporting one of said framing members, saidracks having' oppositely facing rack teeth on their proximate edges, and

said racks being movable inside said casing wall in directions at rightangles to the direction of extension of the framing members, a pair ofrelatively rotatable pinion gears between said racks, one meshing withone of the racks and one with the other, and means for rotating saidpinion gears.

9. In an optical device having a casing delining' a light conduit, a`pair of relatively narrow view area framing members extending inparallel relation across the light conduit, a pair of parallel racks,each supporting one of said framing members, said racks havingoppositely facing rack teeth on their proximate edges, and said racksbeing movable inside said casing wall in directions at right angles tothe direction of extension of the framing members, a pair of relativelyrotatable pinion gears between said racks, one meshing with one of theracks and one with the other, and a unitary knob member for rotatingsaid pinion` gears in unison.

i0. In an optical device having a casing deiining a light conduit, apair of relatively narrow view area framing members extending inparallel relation across the light conduit, a pair of parallel racks,each supporting one oi' the framing members, said racks having theirproximate rack-toothed edges facing in opposite directions and disposedin planes offset from one another, and said racks being movable insidethe casing wall in directions at. right angles to the direction ofextension of the framing members, a pair of adjacent concentric andrelatively rotatable pinion gears between said racks, one meshing withone of the racks and one with the other, and means for rotating saidpinion gears.

1i. In an optical device having a'casing de ning a light conduit, a pairof relatively narrowview area framing members extending in parallelrelation across the light conduit, a pair of parallel racks, leachsupporting one of the framing members, said racks having their proximaterack-toothed edges facing in opposite directions and disposed in planesoiset from one another, andsaid racks being movable inside the casingwall in directions at right angles to the direction of extension of theframing members, a pair of adjacent concentric and relatively rotatable-pinion gears Abetween said racks, one meshing with one of the racks andone with the other, and means for rotating said pinion gears in unison.

NIEIS G. PETERSEN.

